The Ontario Law Society is trying to suspend an immigration lawyer from Hamilton turned into a court court after a dozen people complained that he took their money, but never completed the work to help them stay in Canada.
“According to the complaints that the Law Society has received against the defendant to date, there are reasonable reasons to believe that there is a significant risk of damage to the members of the public and/or the public interest in the administration of justice,” he said in his motion presented on June 25, 2025 before the Court of Law Society.
He said that he is currently investigating the claims that cheated the Federal Government, embezzled $ 10,500 in customer funds and did not serve 12 clients with active refugees of refugees.
CBC Hamilton previously informed about the experiences of four families with Victoria Bruyn since 2023. They all said that Bruyn did not follow the promises to help them navigate the complicated high -risk immigration system of Canada, leaving them in limbo or, in some cases, facing deportation.
For Oksana Hrabova and Oleg Lomanov of Ukraine, a retainer of almost $ 3,000 last summer to help them with their permanent residence requests was paid.
But in the months after they sent all the necessary documents to Bruyn, she “simply disappeared”, no longer responded to her emails, calls and text messages, said Hrabova.
Bruyn never told them that he was no longer practicing the law as of October 2024, since he had been appointed as a judge at the owner’s board and the tenant (LTB), Hrabova said. They discovered months later through an online search and filed a complaint against Bruyn before the Law Society.
Bruyn told CBC Hamilton that he had “evidence to show that these accusations are unfounded,” but said he thought it was not appropriate to talk about the cases of his clients.
9 Investigations of the current Law Society
The Law of Law, which regulates lawyers and legal assistants in Ontario, presented a motion on June 25 against Bruyn, who is still a licensed lawyer, to suspend his ability to practice the law or restrict it while continuing to investigate it.
The case will be heard next week in the court of Law. Accusations have not been tested through this dispute process.
Bruyn did not respond to the request for comments from CBC Hamilton. He is in an absence permit of the LTB, confirmed the Ontario courts, which he did not comment on the motion of the Law Society.
Law’s society said he is investigating Bruyn for accusations, including that he may have done it:
- He abandoned his legal practice.
- It did not communicate and served 12 clients who had refugee active claims.
- Embezzled $ 10,500 in customer funds.
- He cheated the Federal Government Immigration and Refugees Board.
Bruyn has not cooperated with the investigations of Nine Law’s society based on complaints received between March 2024 and last month, the motion said.
Together with individual customers, Law’s Society said he received complaints from the refugee board that Bruyn “may have cheated it” by presenting false information without reviewing it first with its clients.
“Good news for us,” says the former client
Until recently, I was on the legal assistance list of Ontario, which means that it accepted government money to represent low -income clients. The Provincial Agency previously refused to comment why or when the change occurred.
But this is how Sarah Arvanitis, an American citizen who lives in Hamilton, was connected with Bruyn. Before a trip to the United States in 2023, it was under the impression that Bruyn had submitted a permanent Canadian residence application in his name, and could cross freely between the two countries.
On the way back, Canadian border officials arrested it said that no request was submitted.
When she tried to get Bruyn to help her return to Canada, the lawyer could not be contacted, Arvanitis said. It was not until three months later, when Arvanitis could hire another lawyer who could return home.
The Law Society investigated the Arvanitis complaint and closed the file after providing Bruyn “regulatory orientation,” adding a note to their archive and finding “there was not enough evidence of professional misconduct to support new actions.”
His case does not seem to be part of the motion of the society of the law against Bruyn, but Arvanitis told CBC Hamilton in an email this week: “It is good news for us because it means that the law society is finally trying to take measures against it, which should have happened in 2023”.
